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A Stretch Of The Imagination
''A Stretch of the Imagination'' is an Australian play by Jack Hibberd. It was one of the most significant new plays of the Australian drama revival of the early 1970s.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 47-52 History A long monodrama, ''A Stretch of the Imagination'', is regarded by most connoisseurs as Hibberd’s finest work, embodying a radical advance in the character of Australian theatre, embracing and remoulding as it does many of the strong strands in theatrical modernism. In 1976 it was performed by Max Gillies of the APG (for which he won a Theatre Australia Award). In 1990 it was reimagined as a TV movie, where Gillies reprised his role. It was the first Australian play to be staged in China (in Mandarin) with a famous Chinese actor, Wei Zongwan, as Monk. This play has enjoyed productions in the United States, Germany and New Zealand. In 2010 it was performed in London by Mark Little, a winner of the prestigious Laurence Olivie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Hibberd
John Charles Hibberd (born 12 April 1940 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian playwright and physician. Biography Hibberd studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and resided in Newman College. He worked as a registrar in the Department of Social Medicine at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, from 1966 to 1967. He worked as a general practitioner until 1984, then practised as a clinical immunologist. He is married to actress Evelyn Krape, with whom he has two children. He also has two children from his first marriage. Hibberd co-founded the Australian Performing Group (APG) in 1970. He was a member for ten years, and chairman for two. In 1983 he founded the Melbourne Writers Theatre, which is still active today. He served on the Theatre Board of The Australia Council twice, and recently on its Literature Board. Career Hibberd has written close to 40 plays, some of them not full length. His first play, ''White With Wire Wheels'', was staged in 1967 at the Uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pram Factory
__NOTOC__ The Pram Factory was an Australian alternative theatre venue in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton from around 1970 until the 1981. It was home to the Australian Performing Group and Nindethana, Australia's first Aboriginal theatre group. Building The buildings in Drummond Street, Carlton, that housed the Pram Factory consisted of a former factory that made baby carriages (known as "prams", an abbreviation of "perambulator"), called Paramaount, and stables. A 150-seat theatre was constructed in 1970, as a new home for the Australian Performing Group, which moved from La Mama Theatre. It expanded to a second theatre, with 75 seats, in 1973. Performances and activities It became the site of a number activities besides stage productions, including protest meetings, and was known for its unconventional performances that were part of the "New Wave" of Australian drama. It nurtured New Left politics, comedy, popular theatre, new Australian writing, puppetry and circus. Plays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Gillies
Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group. Early life and education Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Teachers College and featured in the theatre productions ''School for Scandal'' and ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' with Kerry Dwyer in 1964. He graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966. He then studied secondary teaching at the Melbourne Teachers' College, now part of the University of Melbourne. Career In 1984–85, Gillies hosted ''The Gillies Report'' on ABC Television. This was followed in 1986 by ''Gillies Republic'' and in 1992 by ''Gillies and Company''. He was known for his ability to dress up and parody a wide range of political figures, both on television and in live solo theatrical performances (i.e. ''The Big Con'', ''You're Dreaming''). In July 2008 he resurrected his caricatures of Australia's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Performing Group
The Australian Performing Group (APG) was a Melbourne-based experimental theatre repertory ensemble formed in an official capacity in 1970 from the La Mama theatre group. Created to address a dissatisfaction with Australia's theatrical climate, the APG focused primarily on producing new works by then-emerging Australian writers such as Barry Oakley, Jack Hibberd, Kris Hemensley, Bill Garner, John Romeril, Steve J. Spears and David Williamson. The APG comprised many sub-groups interested in developing different ideas and shows, e.g. groups of writers, actors, musicians, etc. In 1977 two of the APG groups, Soapbox Circus and The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, teamed up with New Ensemble Circus to create Circus Oz Circus Oz is a contemporary circus company based in Australia, collectively owned by its Membership, founded in 1977. Its shows incorporate theatre, satire, rock 'n' roll and a uniquely Australian humour. History Early years Circus Oz was inco ..., originally funded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of China. Because Mandarin originated in North China and most Mandarin dialects are found in the north, the group is sometimes referred to as Northern Chinese (). Many varieties of Mandarin, such as those of the Southwest (including Sichuanese) and the Lower Yangtze, are not mutually intelligible with the standard language (or are only partially intelligible). Nevertheless, Mandarin as a group is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers (with nearly one billion). Mandarin is by far the largest of the seven or ten Chinese dialect groups; it is spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretches from Yunnan in the southwest to Xinjiang in the northwest and Heilongjiang in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wei Zongwan
Wei Zongwan (; born 24 November 1938) is a Chinese actor. He has been acting since the 1980s and has appeared in over 70 films and television shows. He has won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' San Mao Joins the Army'' (1993), and was nominated in the Macau International Movie Festival for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''A Singing Fairy'' (2010). Early life Wei was born in Shanghai on November 24, 1938, in the Republic of China, with his ancestral home in Ningbo, Zhejiang. After graduating from Shanghai Nanyang Model Junior High School () in 1955 he entered the Shanghai Turbine Plant () worked as a bench worker, and joined a drama team in that factory. Wei graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1963, majoring in acting. After university, he was assigned to the Shanghai People's Art Theatre. In a very long time in the Shanghai People's Art Theatre, he acted insignificant roles vividly. When watching the sketch he acted, Hou Baolin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Little (Australian Actor)
Mark Little (born 20 October 1959) is an Australian actor, television presenter, comedian and screen/stage writer. He is known for portraying the role of Joe Mangel from 1988-1991, 2005 and 2022 on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. Career Little appeared in a string of Australian films and TV series during the 1980s, including ''Short Changed'' (1986), written by Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal playwright Robert J. Merritt, Bob Merritt and directed by George Ogilvie. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the AACTA Awards, AFI Awards for this role. He also performed his own comedy in Melbourne's comedy clubs throughout the eighties, while his longest-running television role was as Joe Mangel in the soap opera ''Neighbours'', from 1989 to 1991. Owing to the show's popularity in the UK, he became known in the country and subsequently moved to England. In 1990 he co-hosted with Tania Lacy on Countdown Revolution, a music show that was on ABC each week night. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Olivier Award
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the British actor of the same name in 1984. The awards are given to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Olivier Award is also given each year. The Olivier Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in British theatre, equivalent to the BAFTA Awards for film and television, and the BRIT Awards for music. The Olivier Awards are considered equivalent to Broadway's Tony Awards and France's Molière Award. Since inception, the awards have been held at va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AusStage
AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up until the present day. The only repository of Australian performing arts in the world, it is managed by a consortium of universities, government agencies, industry organisations and arts institutions, and mostly funded by the Australian Research Council. Created in 2000, the database contained more than 250,000 records by 2018. History The AusStage project was instigated by the Australasian Drama Studies Association in 1999, with Flinders University in South Australia leading the project, funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC). Other collaborating universities were La Trobe University (Vic), University of Queensland, University of New South Wales, University of Western Australia, University of New England (NSW), Newc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Plays
Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the performing arts in Australia, or produced by Australians. There are theatrical and dramatic aspects to a number of Indigenous Australian ceremonies such as the corroboree. During its colonial period, Australian theatrical arts were generally linked to the broader traditions of English literature and to British and Irish theatre. Australian literature and theatrical artists (including Aboriginal as well as Anglo-Celtic and multicultural migrant Australians) have over the last two centuries introduced the culture of Australia and the character of a new continent to the world stage. Individuals who have contributed to theatre in Australia and internationally include Sir Robert Helpmann, Dame Joan Sutherland, Barry Humphries, David Williamson, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Jim Sharman, Tim Minchin and Baz Luhrmann. Notable theatrical institutions include the Sydney Opera House, and the National Institute of Dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
